Draperies are a well-known product used to cover a window or other opening. Drapes are typically made from a panel of fabric which is hung vertically from a rod or other support structure. The fabric may be woven or non-woven. In some drapes rings, snaps, or hooks may be used to attach the drapery material to the rod or to carriers on the rod. If carriers are used a cord may be provided for moving the carriers and attached drapery across the rod. Other drapes may have pockets, straps, loops or holes with grommets through which the rod passes.
When the drapery is in an open position the drapery material is stacked at one or both ends of the rod. A rule of thumb in the industry is that for every foot of window to be covered there will be four inches of stacked material when the drapery is in a fully open or stacked position. Drapery and curtains are rarely hung inside the window frame because the stacks would cover so much of the window. Consequently, the drapery rod must extend across the wall adjacent the window so that the stack of drapery material will not cover the window when fully opened. If sufficient wall space is not available for the stack, then even in a fully open position the drapery will obscure a portion of the window reducing the amount of light that can enter the room and limiting the view to the outside. It costs a significant amount of money for fabric, labor and hardware to cover the wall. The wall space covered by the drape cannot be used and furniture cannot be placed close to that wall space.
In my United States Published Patent Application No. 20130180670 A1 I disclose a drape made from a series of strips of material arranged side by side and attached together in a manner so that each pair of adjacent lengthwise sides of each strip when joined together form a tab. Each strip has a sharp lengthwise pleat substantially parallel to and between the sides of the strip such that the drape has a series of sharp folds projecting outward on the front of the drape and a series of tabs projecting outward from the back of the drape. This is a tighter stacking drapery than the drapes which are known in the art and available in the marketplace. This drape can form a tight stack when in a fully open position and has the soft fabric appearance of conventional drapes when in a drawn or unstacked position. This extremely small stack makes the drape comparable to other kinds of window coverings, such as cellular blinds which have small stacks and are often installed in the window casing.
Drapes open and close by moving side to side and, unlike most pleated shades, cellular shades, Roman shades and roll-up shades, drapes do not require lifting of material or holding a stack of material in place against gravity. But, when fully open, drapes cover a portion of the window, or a wall next to the window, from top to bottom. Drapery materials are preferred for many situations because they have a softer appearance and may naturally fold over when the drape is moved laterally to one side of the window when the drape is opened. However, such readily foldable materials tend to sag at the supports along the upper end of the drape. For this reason and for aesthetic purposes, i.e. to provide a more full appearance, draperies require stiffness along their upper end to prevent sagging at the supports. Stiffness has been provided to the upper end of drapery fabric by permanently affixing sections of materials, such as by sewing or gluing, to the upper end of the drapery fabric. Most often a continuous strip of material is sewn to the top of the drape in conjunction with a hem that may or may not wrap around the strip. Another method is to attach permanent extra sections of relatively stiff material between adjacent drapery fabric folds along the upper end of the drapery fabric. The extra strip or sections of material are collectively referred to as “the header” of the drape. In this way, the drapery fabric may still fold but will maintain an unfolded, bowed, “full” appearance between creases.
In my U.S. Pat. No. 5,765,260 I disclose a drape with a removable header and in my U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,511 I disclose a drape with heart-shaped headers. These headers are designed for drapes that are hung from carriers and are not particularly suited for drapes having holes, or holes with grommets, through the top portion of a drape. Yet another type of header is disclosed in my United States Published Patent Application No. 20130180670 A1.
Drapes, and particularly the drape disclosed in my United States Published Patent Application No. 20130180670, have a tendency to flare outward or toe out at the bottom when stacked. This is particularly noticeable when the drape is tightly stacked in the open position. When fully drawn across a window this drape tends to toe in at the bottom. Consequently, there is a need for a drape which can be tightly stacked and while in that stacked position will have a minimal or no outward flare and no toe in at the bottom of the stack when fully deployed.